Seaweed Cookies, or Petites Galettes au fleur de sel aux algues

If you don’t use seaweed salt, use 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, adding it at the end with the flour. If you want to make your own seaweed salt, chop a mix of dried kelp, dulce, and toasted nori until relatively fine. (You can find them at natural foods stores and Asian markets.) Afterwards, mix or grind it with flaky sea salt in equal proportions. But if seaweed’s not your thing, feel free to play around with other naturally-flavored salts. Cinnamon and spicy red pepper both sound good to me.

6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons fleur de sel aux algues, plus additional for sprinkling the cookies
9 tablespoons (110g) powdered sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (155g) flour

Mix the butter and fleur de sel aux algues together until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, then the egg yolk.
If using an electric mixer, scrape down the sides, then add the olive oil and flour until smooth.
On the counter top, roll the dough into two logs, each about 8-inch (20 cm) long. Wrap each in plastic and chill until firm enough to slice, about 1 hour.
To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 300F (150C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper then slice the cookies on the scant side of ¼-inch (½cm) thick. Place them evenly-spaced on the prepared baking sheet.
Sprinkle a couple of grains of seaweed salt over the top of each cookie (mine was pretty coarse so I crushed it a bit first), then bake for 12-14 minutes, or until slightly-firm. Cool before serving.

Notes

Storage: The cookies are best the day they’re made, but can be stored overnight in an airtight container. The dough can be chilled for up to 5 days, or frozen for 2 months.